


Kids in the Corner

by chararii



Series: Scales [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bullying, Gen, Haruno Sakura-centric, POV Haruno Sakura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chararii/pseuds/chararii
Summary: In many lives, Ino was Sakura's first hero. In this, someone else got to her first.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Orochimaru
Series: Scales [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952356
Comments: 40
Kudos: 536





	Kids in the Corner

**Author's Note:**

> The title was taken from Amber Van Day's "Kids in the Corner" which also inspired this oneshot.
> 
> The lyrics I used aren't mine.

Six year old Sakura sat in the last row on the leftmost seat at the very back of the room. It was her personal seat and even had her name on it, written in hasty blocky strokes from that one time Ami told her to hide in her corner so she didn't infect others with her weirdness. Iruka-sensei had put her in detention for that but Sakura liked that the seat was hers and hers alone. Nobody else wanted to sit there and people usually didn't pay attention to her corner. It was quiet and peaceful enough so she could concentrate on her reading or sometimes the teacher without being caught up in everyone else's shenanigans. The last part was the most important. Sakura didn't really know why but the other children didn't like her much. It had begun when they were five and Ami made fun of her forehead. She made her cry but then Ino came and gave her a beautiful red ribbon and a smile that made everything better. At least until the matron of the orphanage took the ribbon away and sold it for a handful of ryo so she could buy groceries for food. Sakura had cried (again) but the explanation made sense to her. They had to eat after all and surely Ino would still smile at her even if she didn't have her gift anymore. Things would be okay.

Things weren't okay. Ino was angry and yelled at her about how selling gifts was rude and Sakura was rude and if she didn't want to be friends she should've just said so. She huffed and stormed off then before Sakura could explain that she very much wanted to be friends but the cold shoulder the blonde gave her from that day forward put an end to that dream. At least she wasn't mean to her. Ami still pushed her around sometimes but it wasn't much worse than what the older kids at the orphanage liked to do sometimes. They called her hair stupid and her forehead ugly and Sakura still cried a lot and didn't have many friends but it could be worse. The matron liked to tell them stories about what happened to children who ran away, how they always ended up dead or _worse_ so Sakura did her best to ignore the bullies. She didn't want to be dead or worse. And in a few years she was going to be a big, strong ninja who could fight back and beat Ami in spars.

“Sakura-chan! Pay attention!” Sakura flinched and her head shot up to meet Iruka-sensei's slightly frustrated gaze. Making herself as small as possible she did her best to avoid anyone's attention while keeping her eyes on the teacher to avoid future reprimands.

“As I was saying: You will meet your jounin guides today and I expect you to treat them with respect and to behave yourselves!” he said sharply, narrowed eyes focusing on Naruto, Kiba and Sasuke respectively. The three were a bit of an unofficial trio of chaos and mayhem and Sakura thanked her own un-remark-able-ness for failing to gain their attention. They were notorious for their pranks. Naruto and Sasuke as sons of the Hokage and leader of the police force respectively were close to untouchable and Kiba just didn't care. Any sort of punishment or criticism rolled off him like water off a duck's back. The boys merely grinned at each other or, in Sasuke's case, smirked and Sakura pitied their chosen guide a little.

“The whole program only lasts for a week so I suggest you make the most of it and learn what you can. Jounin are very valuable and highly skilled shinobi which presents you with a unique learning opportunity. Don't waste it!” As soon as Iruka-sensei fell silent and left the classroom to fetch the jounin, the other children began to whisper amongst themselves.

“Do you think Tsunade-hime will be there? I heard she's really powerful and pretty!”

“Ehehe, I heard from dad that he made jiji sign up for the program so the whole thing should be pretty chill!”

“Mother told me Hatake-san would be there. He worked with nii-san on occasion so I'll probably join his group.”

“I want the pretty jounin who got me dango last week when I hurt myself! Do you think she'll be here too?”

Sakura sat quietly in her corner while listening to her classmates. She didn't know any jounin, probably because she didn't know many people to begin with but more than anything, she worried about the upcoming week. She was good enough with any kind of written work but not very fast or strong and _really_ unpopular. Any sort of group activity was a nightmare for Sakura who always got chosen last and sometimes not at all until Iruka-sensei or another teacher just told her to join one of the groups which were never happy about it. Theoretically she knew that adults were supposed to like children so she shouldn't worry but then her mind returned to the matron as well as the other orphanage workers all of whom seemed to hate her. Not her specifically but children in general. She wasn't even a clan kid, the only thing she had to show for two years of academy training being her high test scores. Nobody would choose Sakura first. What if nobody wanted her? Would she spend the week at the orphanage? Would they make her go through remedial classes? Sakura bit her lip and balled her fists beneath the table as she waited in silence. Everything would be fine. Everything would be juuuust fine.

The return of Iruka-sensei tore her from her thoughts and with bated breath she watched him enter the classroom with ten other adults in tow. Excited whispers broke out at the sight of the famous Tsunade-hime and Sakura's heart skipped a beat at the almost ethereal beauty of the fierce combat medic. It was her who led the group, followed by a much older man with long, white and impossibly spiky hair who caused Naruto to cheer and yell loudly, another much younger male with a terrible slouch and similarly pale hair whose face was covered by a mask. After him came three women, one with black hair and red eyes, one who obviously stemmed from the Hyuuga clan and one that looked a lot like Ino with blonde hair that was just a little darker in comparison. They stood in a straight row at the front of the classroom and the space looked increasingly cramped when they were joined by two men, one with a bandana and a senbon stuck between his teeth, accompanied by one who couldn't be called anything else but tall, green and bushy. It was the last group that caught her attention. One of them seemed pretty boring with dark glasses hiding his eyes and standard jounin gear but the last one was... different. His skin was a stark pale white, the only splash of colour being purple marks around his eerily slitted yellow eyes. That paired with impossibly long and glossy hair made seem everyone else around him almost bland. His gaze surveyed the classroom once before he slunk back a little, still in line with the others but far less interested, almost nonchalant. Sakura wasn't sure if she just imagined it or not but the light around him seemed to dim ever so slightly, a stark contrast to the almost blinding intensity of his colleagues.

“Quiet!” Iruka-sensei snapped as he gestured to the jounin.

“Your potential guides will introduce themselves and then you can, quietly and orderly, approach them and ask to be part of their group. Although I'm sure some of them have preferences,” he added drily with a look at the white-haired shinobi Naruto was so fascinated by. Sakura's hands felt clammy and she resisted the urge to fidget overly much. Preferences. Nobody ever preferred Sakura.

“Alright, brats. I am Senju Tsunade but you will address me as Tsunade-sama. I'm the head of the Konoha hospital and a frontline medic-nin. I'll probably work best with kids who have above average chakra control but I'll take anyone who's not a whiner.” Her words crashed over Sakura like a forceful tidal wave, causing her to gulp audibly. The woman with her wide stance and arms crossed in front of her chest looked like she could crush her. One by one the jounin introduced themselves. Jiraya-sama already stated that he would pick 'the dumb blonde kid' so he was right out. The masked man didn't share any information except his name which didn't ring much of a bell. Sakura had never heard of a Kakashi before but he didn't seem too interested in teaching anyone anything. Perhaps if nobody else wanted him... Kurenai-san the genjutsu specialist was immediately popular with all the girls so Sakura crossed her off the list too as well as Hyuuga Keiko and Yamanaka Mina who both enjoyed a similar fanbase. There was no way Sakura would be allowed to approach any of them. Ami would make sure of it. Shiranui Genma, Maito Gai and Ebisu-san were all on the same genin team and likely to attract the majority of the boys in her class judging from the interest they had in the group as a whole. Then the last one spoke up, introduced himself as Orochimaru-sama and claimed he was generally well-rounded but specialised in genjutsu and ninjutsu. It took no genius to figure out that he got a lot of attention but not necessarily the good kind. Ami whispered, none too quietly, the word 'weird'. And he was. His voice was low and raspy, his eyes sharp and piercing and downright scary.

All in all the situation was far from ideal. Sakura looked at the lineup and frowned, thinking about who she was supposed to approach. Maybe she could skip the exercise after all? Surely she could ask Iruka-sensei. He was kind and reasonable and always willing to help. Sakura would be just fine spending the week on independent study instead.

“Now you may introduce yoursel-” He had barely been able to finish before chaos ensued. Boys and girls alike shot out of their seats with loud yells and cries, shoved each other and hurried to try and gain the approval of their chosen guide. A few lonely students like Shino and Hinata were much slower and sedated as they calmly made their way to the front of the class to approach Ebisu-san and Kurenai-san respectively. Sakura surveyed the utter mayhem and made a valiant effort to sink into her seat and fade out of view. There was no way she could join any of the bigger crowds because kami help her if Ami spotted her trying to fit in. The girl was almost guaranteed to make her life living hell for that.

“BE QUIET!” She flinched heavily at the rare sound of Iruka-sensei raising his voice. It did its magic and silence reigned. The numbers were painfully uneven with half the girls crowding Tsunade-sama and the boys close to breaking into a minor scuffle over Shiranui-san.

“Hey, hey break it up- Oh. Sakura. Come on then, this is a mandatory exercise you know that.” Well so much for that, Sakura thought glumly and froze at the combined attention of both her classmates and the jounin. She was the only student still in her seat. Shakily she got to her feet, tried to hide her twitchy hands behind her back and scanned the scene in front of her. Ami's eyes promised murder so she almost stumbled her way down the stairs and took a sharp right to get as far away from her as possible. She was the only girl on this side of the room she noted absent-mindedly as she inched away from the boys. Surely she could hide in the corner somewhere- Her breath hitched as her eyes got caught on the dark figure right in front of her. Painfully slowly she raised her head, gaze taking in the standard jounin pants, sweater and vest until she stared right into the scary man's face. There was no emotion on his face and he looked at her like she was the most uninteresting thing he'd ever come across. Sakura gulped, finding it hard to stop looking into his yellow eyes even though every single cell in her body screamed at her to run.

“Figures that the weirdo picks the other weirdo.” It was but a whisper from her left, quiet yet loud enough that Sakura's ears picked it up, matching the voice to Kiba. Her fingers twitched as she blinked slowly, the words still running through her head, eyes still stuck on the man in front of her. She was weird, Sakura knew that. Everyone told her so. It's what they called her for years. But... deep in thought Sakura munched on her lip, still staring. If they called him weird too did that mean he _was_ weird? He certainly looked strange. She didn't know if the whiteness of his skin was makeup or not but the black eyeliner certainly was. Plus his hair was long. He didn't look normal and certainly _felt_ different. Maybe, if he was just as weird as she was then maybe...?

“Yes, child? What do you want?” Sakura blinked and fought the impulse to cower when he addressed her with that gravelly voice of his. In front of him she felt insignificant, like an insect just waiting to be smashed beneath his heel.

“I-” she began, eyes snapping to the side. Nobody else was here. Nobody else wanted to be stuck with the scary weirdo. Sakura was intimidated by him but she was a crybaby but also Ami wasn't here and surely the man was scary enough to keep her away. He would definitely be able to beat her if they fought. That meant he would wipe the floor with Sakura but if she really truly thought about it she'd prefer his company to hers. He hadn't insulted her yet and maybe he was nice underneath that creepy facade? Well. Probably not.

“Would you please be my jounin guide, Orochimaru-sama?” she asked meekly, looking at her hands and trying her best to keep her voice steady. He didn't look like he would want to put up with her but nobody did. Still, if he was going to reject her she didn't have to look at his face while he did so.

“What are your strengths?” He sounded bored and quiet but precise. Sakura made a serious effort to shut up the voice in her head that wanted to make a run for it. Ami would never come near her when he was around and if she had him all to herself he might even show her one or two things. Maybe. Maybe not? She swallowed audibly.

“I'm good with tests and um, I passed the entry exam for the cryp-to-logy office and... Iruka-sensei said I'm a genjutsu type and have really good chakra control?” Sakura wrung her hands as her head hung low in shame and she tried really hard to ignore the countless eyes burning holes in her back. That was a pathetic assessment of her skills but it was all she could do. He would turn her down and then she'd be stuck with some of the other kids and the next week would be terrible. Sakura took a deep breath, fighting the moisture that was gathering in her eyes. She was not going to cry in front of everyone. Not _again_.

“Chakra control, eh? That sounds pretty decent. Say kid, don't you want to learn from me instead? I'm not as stuffy as Oro-chan.” This time Sakura did jump. Her eyes went wide and she almost whirled around to face the woman who had spoken to her. For a single second she stared at her, fascinated by the purple diamond on her forehead before her gaze dipped lower and was met by Ami's furious expression. A jolt of fear went through her system so she forced her lips into a small smile and backed away, shuffling just a little closer to the scary man.

“I would really prefer studying under Orochimaru-sama, if that's alright with you Tsunade-sama,” she said in her most polite grown-up voice, imitating the way the matron sometimes spoke to the policemen whenever one of the kids was caught causing trouble. The blonde woman certainly seemed surprised as the white-haired man had a good laugh at her expense.

“Getting turned down in favour of Oro, eh hime?” he asked with a snort, followed up by Naruto who already imitated his jounin by saying:  
“Don't worry baa-chan, Sakura's kinda odd so you shouldn't take it to heart.” That stung. She was used to people being mean to her but part of her couldn't help but feel a little upset over how casually Naruto joined in with the others. He was a loudmouth with no discipline but usually not outright cruel. Not to mention the way he squinted at Orochimaru-sama. Sakura guessed that as son of the Hokage he was bound to be a little arrogant but making fun of jounin went too far. He was just a child and had no right to mock adults no matter how weird or scary they looked! Not that she said so out loud.

“Perhaps you might want to teach your godson some measure of censure, Jiraya. Not that I'm surprised considering you were a steady presence as he grew up so I suppose I can't fault him for his lack of suitable role models. Speaking badly of one's comrade is rather unkind.” A cold hand found its way on Sakura's shoulder, causing her to twitch slightly. The light pressure of the hand caught and suppressed most of the movement so that it was barely noticeable at all.

“If that's all I will take my student and leave. I have no need for additional children and see no purpose in lingering until you sort out yours,” the man spoke dismissively as his touch gently but firmly guided Sakura out of the classroom. Her hands were shaking again but his words still rung in her ears. In some sort of way he had kind of defended her. Right? At least he had mocked Naruto, that she was sure of. She wasn't sure how to feel about that because this was just proof that he wasn't nice at all which made her worry about the things he was going to say to her. But then again he had been mean to Naruto because he had been mean to her. Or he was just defending himself. The other man who was too much like Naruto certainly hadn't been nice to him. That was probably it.

“I have not consented to being part of this program but that doesn't mean I won't take my responsibility seriously. Even if you only chose me for my intimidation factor in an effort to keep your tormentors at bay.” Sakura blushed heavily and stared at the floor in shame. She had no idea that she had been that obvious and now she only felt bad about sort of using the man who had gotten her out of the classroom swiftly and mostly quietly.

“I'm sorry Orochimaru-sama. I shouldn't have done that,” she mumbled, thinking of the many times the matron had yelled at her for a variety of reasons. The older woman was always angry at her. The man on the other hand didn't seem angry. If anything he had sounded almost amused.

“For better or worse you are my student for the following week. I shall not go easy on you.” It was a promise but to Sakura it sounded more like a threat. She was caught between seriously regretting the choice she had made and trying to figure out whether he was serious about actually teaching her.

“Yes, Orochimaru-sama,” she replied meekly and looked at the floor as she followed the jounin. She snuck a single glance at his form in front of her and couldn't help but gape a little at the indescribable silkiness of his hair. It was much prettier than Ino's who easily had the nicest hair in class. Sakura bit her lip and wondered if Ino and her could have been friends if things had gone differently. And if, in that case, she'd be one girl in a group of many clamouring for Tsunade-sama's attention. She shook her head to rid herself of these fanciful thoughts. She was no Ino. She was a kid that lived in the background. For a single second, the image of Orochimaru-sama slinking inside the classroom and claiming the corner as his spot entered her mind, accompanied by the nasty looks he got from her classmates and Kiba's whispered 'weirdo'.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

_We're the kids in the corner  
Wear our heroes on our clothes  
Together, we feel a little warmer  
'Cause we're the only ones who knows _

_That we all cry from time to time  
In the dark, our eyes still shine  
'Cause we're the kids in the corner  
All our heroes never die. _

Maybe they could be corner kids together.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think? :)


End file.
